CMF Intl – Dec 18 2015 – News from Mexico, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka

Sowing for the harvests

Farm is reaping big returns in Burkina Faso
A year ago CMF missionaries Andrew and Pulcherie Gordon and their family had to leave Burkina Faso due to Pulcherie’s medical issues. The Gordons had been working with people in the village of Kangoura on a 10-acre farm called “Shalom Fields” as a way of combating poverty with agricultural projects that would lead to sharing the Gospel. Their untimely departure left the team with a big question: Should we continue the farm project?

The team members, led by Brian Hauser, decided to step up and learn to farm! Go here to read about the remarkable progress the team has made in farming and building relationships in the village of Kangoura.

Mexico church celebrates 20^th anniversary

Iglesia Cristiana del Norte (ICN, Northside Christian Church) in Mexico City celebrated its 20th anniversary with special services on November 29.

Phil and Kathy Banta, former CMF missionaries who played a significant role in the initial stages of this church plant, were guests at the event and Phil preached the morning message.

“The Bantas laid a good foundation for the church,” said David Giles, Director of Church Catalyst Ministries. “Steve and Kay Carpenter have tirelessly labored through many stages in its growth, including the move to a new location and acquiring and developing church property. And Todd and Tonja Hancock assisted with the youth program.”

There have been many others who have also assisted along the way, David said, but “most importantly, the strength of ICN is in the members, who use their gifts to build up the church and reach out to others.”

Strength to proceed

Spiritual persecution is a cost of successful ministry

Would you be interested in a career that commonly featured bouts of giardia, neck injuries and allergic reactions to the ever-present dust and flea infestations?

CMF missionary Michelle Moss is experiencing all of these difficulties and more in Tanzania as she and her national teammates, Joseph and Martha, forge ahead with their successful project to help impoverished widows in the bush develop micro-businesses to support themselves.

You can read more about Michelle’s trials and triumphs with her widows’ project in this story. 

Equal parts joy and sorrow

Missionary shares challenges of life on the field

Life on the mission field comes with its own unique set of challenges and blessings, especially when raising a family in a foreign country. CMF missionary Erin Moorerecently shared some of her experiences as a missionary mother of three in an article in The Christian Standard and in a recent newsletter.

Some of the stressors in the Moores’ lives in Ethiopia over the past three years have included logistical problems, the closing of their clinic for six months, sending their son away to boarding school, and a mysterious illness most likely induced by stress. Yet in spite of these things, Erin and her husband Jake are seeing great growth in the church.

Sticking it out

“On one hand we think, ‘Hey, years of sticking it out and we’re seeing amazing fruit!’” said Erin. “Then, on the other hand, we wonder why in the world people have started coming to church in greater numbers and in greater consistency, knowing that there is no magic formula. It is completely the work of God and nothing else. I suppose that’s the joy and struggle of planting churches: it is a lot of hard work and, paradoxically, not even your work at all!”

The work is rarely easy and results often come at a high price, but most missionaries will tell you that, in the end, it is worth it.

“I am finding now more and more that the best things in life seem to be made up of almost equal parts joy and sorrow,” said Erin. “The joy of seeing brothers and sisters coming to Christ with my own eyes carries sorrow for us personally at times. As I write today, though, I can tell you that we would not have it any other way.” 

CMF to begin new work in Sri Lanka

National Christian and family will return in 2017

A Sri Lankan Christian who has been working in a church–planting ministry in Sri Lanka since 1999 will open a new CMF work in his home country in late 2017. Laminda and Denise Ubhayawansha have been studying in the U.S. since 2008, and are currently pursuing their Master of Divinity degrees at Cincinnati Christian Seminary. The couple met when Denise, an American, took a mission trip to Sri Lanka to do relief work following the 2004 tsunami.

“We plan to take the education we’ve acquired in the U.S. back to Sri Lanka to develop and train leaders in three key areas of the country,” said Laminda. “Then those leaders will go back to their villages to plant churches and create disciples.”

Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon in its British colonial days, is a multicultural island country near southeast India. The culture is influenced primarily by Buddhism and Hinduism, the two principal religions. Evangelical Christians number less than 1% of the population.

“CMF hopes to enter Sri Lanka with the Ubhayawanshas in late 2017 or early 2018 in partnership with the evangelical churches that have a vision for church planting and holistic outreach in the areas of Kandy, Valanchenai and Anuradhapura,” said David Giles, CMF’s Director of Church Catalyst Ministries. “Our strategies will include Community Health Evangelism (CHE), discipleship training, and ESL (English as a Second Language) Bible discussion groups.”

If you’d like to help CMF and the Ubhayawanshas begin sharing Christ in Sri Lanka because there are so many who need to hear the Gospel there, please go here to make a donation.